Spider-Man actor Tom Holland says that the new Web Crawler’s movie will see the building of a fresh superhero who finds his place in the grand scheme of things
EVERYONE’S friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man will be swinging back into cinemas soon with another incarnation to delight the Web Head’s fans.
Dubbed Spider-Man: Homecoming, the Jon Watts-directed action extravaganza will see Tom Holland as the beloved crime-fighting Web Crawler and his awkward teen alter-ego, Peter Parker. Co-produced by Marvel Studios this will be the second reboot of the Spider-Man franchise.
Its ensemble cast features former Batman star Michael Keaton as the film’s villain, and Robert Downey Jr as Iron Man/Tony Stark.
Last year, audiences worldwide were introduced to Holland’s effervescent portrayal of Spider-Man in Captain America: Civil War. The English actor and dancer gained fame for his two-year titular role in Billy Elliot The Musical which was staged in West End. He also starred alongside Ewan McGregor and Naomi Watts in the tsunami disaster movie, The Impossible, in 2012.
In an interview, the 21-year-old London-born actor said that he probably first encountered the superhero via the cartoons and comics. “I had all the toys and stuff. So when the Spider-Man movie came out (directed by Sam Raimi in 2002), I was already an avid fan.
“I think as a little boy if you ask any kid under the age of eight or 10 what their favorite colours are, they’re going to be red or blue. So he’s got both of those checked off. And there are Spider-Man costumes to be bought everywhere. So I was always Spider-Man,” said Holland, who added that although he went through a Batman phase, it was always Spider-Man he came back to.
One thing that was certain for Holland with this new movie was that he really did not want to do something that had been done before concerning his character.
“It’s quite hard to come by original content. So I just really, really dove into the research about finding new and unique things we hadn’t seen with Spider-Man, and especially, Peter Parker. And making him younger, I think, was a very smart decision on Marvel’s behalf because it just makes it more relatable. Not only to an older generation but also to a younger one because it’s nice to be able to go and see a movie and see someone as incredible as Spider-Man going through the same things that they’re going through,” he said.
Holland added that it also appeals to an older audience since almost everyone went to school. “So they’re able to reminisce,” he said.
Below, the actor talks at length about his challenges and the story of Spider-Man: Homecoming.
Q: Talk about the EMS (Electrical Muscle Stimulation) training you did to prepare for playing Spider-Man.
For me the EMS training was more of an experiment than anything else. My friend Bobby who is a stuntman actually owns the gym so I went as sort of a favour to him but also as a favour to me because he was allowing me to use the facility. In the crudest way possible, it basically is a way to get ripped quick. It definitely did that.
I have before and after pictures of using it and it’s pretty crazy. But for me the training that really helped me was boxing because it allowed me to get to a physical level where I was able to maintain a certain level of energy throughout the day, which sometimes were 15-16 hour days. And boxing really was what my groundwork was built off of.
Q: What was the most difficult Spider-Man skill for you to master?
Probably flexibility. I’m so inflexible. It’s so bad. I can’t even touch my toes. So sometimes they’d ask me to land in positions which I just physically can’t do. There were some moments where even the parkour artist couldn’t do what Spider-Man can do. So as much as I tried my best, we did this thing called a digi takeover where they would enhance movements that I had done. So it’s still my body, it’s still my movement. It’s just slightly better than I could do myself.
Q: When asked what he was surprised by about you, Jon said your level of precision, that you could dial it up or down or change and always still hit your marks. Is that innate or something you trained for?
I think the best thing, the luckiest thing that I’ve had in my career is I’ve had the opportunity to learn while working. I mean since I was a kid I’ve been acting and I’ve been put into situations with really, really great actors and I’ve been very lucky to watch them work. And I’ve been able to take things from different actors and use them to my own benefit.
And technical things like hitting marks and knowing different sizes of lenses and how to work with the focus puller and stuff like that is stuff that you just get used to. It’s like learning the guitar. You slowly pick it up and then eventually once you get to a certain level things start falling into place quicker.
Q: How do you feel the superhero element amplifies that self-discovery that Peter goes through?
It’s a homecoming for the character. He’s now where he belongs. He always should have been in the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe). Peter Parker grows up a lot in this movie and he makes a decision at the very end of the movie which might make him the most mature superhero we’ve seen. And I’m not saying that to blow my own trumpet. It’s not Tom Holland. They wrote it that way. You meet him at the beginning of the movie and he’s not very good at being Spider-Man. He doesn’t really know what he’s doing.
He doesn’t know where he fits in in the world because the beginning of the movie he’s fighting petty crimes after fighting Ant-Man in Berlin. So he’s kind of like I don’t really know where I fit in. So the whole movie is about him figuring out his place in New York and his place in the universe and hopefully his place in the Avengers.
Q: Jon also said that he put you on a strict diet of movies to watch to prepare. Which one gave you a real sense of character that you could apply to Peter?
Yes, it was Marty McFly [from Back To The Future]. That’s my Spider-Man. He is so full of life, so innocent, so goofy, so cool in the most uncool way possible. And for me that was exactly what I wanted to bring to the screen and I watched that movie 10-15 times over the course of shooting Spider-Man. So he was definitely my main influence.
Q: Jon said that they wanted to bring superheroes down to the ground level in a literal and metaphorical way. What did that mean for you in terms of the character?
Well, I think what Kevin Feige has done so well is the last three years he’s made Ant-Man, Dr. Strange and Guardians of the Galaxy. All three movies have been huge successes and they’ve all been so different in genre. And it was important for Jon and me to do the same. I think that’s something that superhero movies haven’t necessarily touched on where his life outside of the suit is more important than his life in the suit. And I think it’s just an interesting dynamic to this genre that we’ve seen so much.
Q: What was school like for you growing up?
I went to a private school when I was a kid, from 7 to 11. And then my mom and dad had loads more kids and the funds were stretched over all four of us and we couldn’t quite afford to go to private school for secondary school. So I went to a state school for the latter part of my education. I went to Wimbledon College which I actually loved. I had a tough couple of years there at the beginning but I got on the rugby team at one point. I was on the cricket team. And I just put my head down and did the work and kind of got through it.
But English schools are so different to American schools. I wore a suit and tie every day. It was only boys. And then when I went to school in America for the research exercise, I was suddenly worrying about what I was going to wear the next day, whereas at my school you just wear the same thing every single day.
Q: Talk about the relationship between Peter and Tony Stark. Does Tony become more of an older brother or a parental figure?
Yeah that’s interesting. I think Happy Hogan is more of the big brother and Tony is more of the father figure, because throughout the movie Peter is constantly trying to get in touch with Tony and is always having to settle for Happy. And Happy doesn’t have time for Peter because he’s also trying to always get in touch with Tony. So it’s like two brothers battling for attention from the big guy. And it’s very funny because you see this 40-year-old man jealous of this little kid and this little kid jealous of this 40-year-old man for his contact.
So it’s a very funny dynamic. And I do think that Tony is more of a father figure to Peter because he is the person Peter goes to for advice. Sometimes Tony Stark isn’t necessarily the best person to get advice from but most of the time it’s pretty sound and it’s a relationship I really hope we get to explore more in the future.
Q: You’re right, Tony’s advice is not always appropriate. He’s very public about his superhero persona but tells Peter to keep his a secret. How does that challenge Peter?
Tony never really tells Peter to keep it a secret. I think he just knows that’s what Peter wants and respects his decision. Because I know in the comics he’s very adamant for Peter to tell the world who he is. But I think that’s what makes Peter so exciting because he’s the only real superhero in the MCU with a secret identity. But Tony’s advice isn’t always the best advice to take.
Q: Do you feel that drives the plot of him giving advice that ends up causing bad decisions?
Yes and I think what’s funny is Tony giving Peter advice. Peter not taking it but also prevailing. It just goes to show how powerful Spider-Man is because he didn’t take the advice of Iron Man but he still managed to prevail. But in doing that he made a lot of mistakes along the way. So it’s really a massive learning curve in this movie. And by the end of the movie Peter Parker definitely is not the finished article and still has a lot to learn. And I look forward to having more advice from Robert Downey Jr if I want it.
Q: What was it like on-screen and off- with Michael Keaton?
Michael Keaton is amazing. What a joy man. What an amazing man to work with and also what a great actor. Someone I’ve looked up to for years. And if I’d ever said to myself 10 years ago oh, you’ll work with Michael Keaton one day and you’ll be top bill. I would be like that’s not possible. How could that ever happen?
Q: What sort of villain is he?
Adrian Toomes is just a regular bloke and he doesn’t like what’s happening in society, so he’s standing up for himself – and it kind of makes him more vulnerable. And as an audience you sympathise with him more. So I think that’s the biggest difference for us in our movie.
Q: How self-contained is this story not just in the Marvel Universe but as its own thing as opposed to setting up potential sequels.
I think if you look at what Marvel has done so well is before they released The Avengers movies they released Hulk, Iron Man 1 and 2, Captain America 1 and Thor 1. So that’s four movies where they were able to build the platform for the Avengers. Other superhero movies haven’t done that. They’ve skipped that step and gone straight into other movies.
So our movie is definitely solely a Spider-Man movie which is just betwixt in this crazy universe which other superheroes existed which allows us to subtly drop hints of what could come in the future. Whereas when you do a sole Spider-Man movie with no other superheroes, the hints have to be far more in your face because you have to believe that they can happen in such a short span of time.
So I genuinely don’t know what the future holds for Spider-Man but I do hope it’s as exciting as this movie.
Courtesy of Sony Pictures Malaysia
Spider-Man: Homecoming opens in cinemas nationwide on July 6.